Narrated by Langston Hughes, The Story of Jazz is a concise history of jazz beginning with Drums of the Yoruba, from Nigeria, and continuing to the post-WWII era of be-bop with Dizzy Gillespie's "Oopapada." Hughes delineates the various subcategories of this ever-evolving genre which includes the rag, New Orleans jazz, blues, Kansas City jazz and boogie-woogie piano, swing, be-bop, and progressive jazz. Well-chosen examples accompany each exploration of style.